There’s a lot going on in politics at the moment, at most of it is to do with gambling law reforms. While it might be true that must of the laws aiming to be changed are relevant to bookmakers and Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs), there are still some changes which the government aim to implement that will affect online casinos, and, by extension, live casino games.
At the moment, the Remote Gambling Association will be giving evidence to politicians in hopes that they will be able to influence the outcome of the gambling reform. While anything that the RGA hands over will only be guidelines and suggestions, it’s entirely possible that MP’s will listen to them, and implement a new system that is fair but firm.
This has been bought on after speculation over the 2005 gambling act, which a lot of MP’s and UK citizens have asked to be looked over. This act allowed bookmakers on high streets to install FOBT’s, which have since been deemed as the -crack-cocaine of gambling’. While the two industries should be viewed as separate, many companies that own bookmakers also own online casinos. Remote gambling laws were also included in the gambling act of 2005, so it’s possible that we may see a slight shift in the way we play live casino games in the UK.
At the moment, plenty of online casinos are actually based outside of the UK, in places like the Isle Of Man or Gibraltar. One of the aims for the new gambling act is to change the tax rules of online casinos, as many of them have moved outside of the UK to avoid tax. The new tax law will most likely be a pay-as-you-earn scheme, meaning online gambling companies will have to pay a certain percentage of their earnings no matter what country they’re based in. However, the treasury has admitted that they will need more time with stakeholders to establish a fair arrangement, which will make a UK based business seem more appealing. The ultimate aim of this referendum is to draw large companies like William Hill Online back to the UK, rather than driving them away.
This new act isn’t due to be finished by 2014, so there is still some time before online casino games in the UK will be changed, but it’s still worth checking up on live casino and UK gambling related news just so you don’t get a nasty shock.